Tag: Josh Barnett

Think of what you were doing 11 years ago. Most of you might envision a moment in your life that probably seems like ancient history now. George W. Bush was in his first term, Nelly was on the radio; I was fresh out of college, working at an Urban Outfitters, hoping that I’d eventually find a better job. (I did, fortunately.) The year was 2002, and it was the last time Josh Barnett competed in the UFC.

Most of you already know the tale: Barnett beats down Randy Couture in the second round of the their headlining title fight at UFC 36, then tests positive for steroids and is stripped of his title. He spends the next six years competing almost exclusively in Japan, gets himself in more PED trouble while fighting for Affliction, and has a minor career rebirth in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix of 2011-2012, where he finishes Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov with startling ease (both by arm-triangle-choke), but gets his ass handed to him by Daniel Cormier.

USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com today confirmed with promotion officials that former UFC heavyweight champion Barnett has signed a new multi-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to make his return to the octagon later this year. An official announcement is expected soon.

“The Warmaster” has not competed since effortlessly strangling out some dude at the final Strikeforce event, but his addition to the UFC’s apparently shallow heavyweight division will undoubtedly make for some fireworks. Who would you like to see Barnett face first, Potato Nation? Personally, I’d like to see him rematch Nandor Guelmino, the scary-looking sumbitch who if I recall correctly gave Barnett one hell of a fight at…what’s that? You say Nandor *is* the guy Barnett effortlessly tapped at the final Strikeforce event? Joe Silva, I don’t know how you pull it off, you magnificent “mean little f*cker.”

To celebrate Barnett’s sure-to-be-triumphant return, we’ve compiled the definitive collection of Warbringer songs (and the Bolt Thrower song after which Barnett is nicknamed) after the jump. If you don’t understand why, well then you just don’t know Josh Barnett.

According to SB Nation, White said that the standard exclusivity component of the proposed UFC contract was the sticking point that Barnett had with the organization’s offer. Barnett has not announced any other plans for his MMA career and White went out of his way to say that he didn’t think the fighter was hesitant to face Dos Santos or any other particular fighter, so perhaps the two sides are still negotiating.

“I’m sure Josh Barnett wouldn’t care (who he fought),” White said after the UFC on Fuel 7 card in England this past Saturday. ”Josh Barnett is a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy, he does his own thing, beats to his own fucking drum. Josh Barnett’s never been a guy to say I don’t want to fight this guy or I won’t fight that guy. He’s not that type of person.”

Barnett’s manager, Leland LaBarre, seemed to suggest that show cash was not their issue with the UFC’s offer, which is pretty surprising considering the ridiculous rate Barnett was receiving over at Strikeforce. According to LaBarre, there were other, undisclosed issues between Barnett and the UFC that simply could not be worked out:

We agreed on guaranteed compensation.In fact, we never even countered. We accepted their original offer. There are some outlying issues – one in particular – that as of this point we were unable to agree on.

(“Why yes, Dana, the blonde gentleman in the lower left *is* my doctor. What of it?”)

The Sam and Diane relationship between Josh Barnett and the UFC continues to forge ahead, Potato Nation. Fortunately, we have more than an outdated UFC.com profile to go with this time. During the media scrum following the UFC 158 press conference earlier today, Dana White was questioned by MMAMania about the likelihood of seeing “The Warmaster” back in the octagon, and the UFC President was surprisingly optimistic:

I have not (spoken with Barnett). It’s probably going to happen.

There you have it; absolute and undeniable proof that Barnett is back, baby. And here you thought we were just tugging your respective dicks this whole time. Shame on you.

Could the Warmaster be Octagon-bound after all? Props to Karl Olsson on the UG for giving us the heads-up that a fighter page for Josh Barnett has just been added to UFC.com. The page lists the heavyweight veteran’s career record, a few striking/grappling stats, and a brief Q&A which reveals that Barnett “sold guns” before he started fighting, and that he considers his win over Randy Couture at UFC 36 to be the key fight in his career. Keep in mind that Barnett was stripped of his UFC heavyweight title following that win due to a positive test for multiple steroids, which is what put him on the UFC’s black-list in the first place.

Barnett’s re-signing with the UFC hasn’t been officially announced, but we’ll let you know if that changes. In the meantime, feel free to suggest possible matchups for Josh’s UFC return in the comments section. (Our twitter suggestion that Barnett fight Pat Barry was quickly dismissed by bothmen.)

Update: On Thursday, 1/17, Barnett tweeted that despite his inclusion on the UFC website, he still hasn’t signed a contract.

(“OK, Josh, now act like this Nandor fellow was somehow able to land a punch on you. We’ll use it for the gag reel.”)

The Oklahoma Athletic Commission recently released the payout figures for Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine, and wouldn’t you know it, Heavyweight Grand Prix runner-up Josh Barnett was able to walk away with nearly a quarter of the total disclosed $1,153,500 payroll for less than three minutes of work. Also of note, Tarec Saffiedine collected approximately $2.50 for each kick he was able to land on Nate Marquardt, yet still wound up a grand shy of, you guessed it, Frank Stallone Nate Marquardt when all was said and done. Speaking of Marquardt, dude somehow didn’t even get a precautionary suspension despite exiting the arena on crutches with a leg that looked like it had stared at the Ark of the Covenant. We were able to secure an exclusive interview with his doctor earlier today, who smugly stated that “Leg kicks certainly do not end lives” before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing from the room. A strange man indeed.

Anyway, check out the full list of salaries along with our thoughts after the jump. Per usual, these figures are absent of any locker room bonuses, sponsorship bonuses, or invitations to Scott Coker’s BBQ bash this weekend that any of the fighters may have received.

I’ll be completely honest: I didn’t watch Strikeforce’s farewell card live last night. I recorded it, and watched it when I was done watching football. Am I just that dedicated of a 49ers/Packers fan? Not quite; last night was the first time I watched either team play all season. Rather, my mentality was that I haven’t been changing my schedule to accommodate Strikeforce events for the past two years now [Author Note: Damn, was the buyout really two years ago already? Time flies when you're watching something die.], so why start now for the promotion’s grand finale.

Reading through the collection of Strikeforce tributes online, it’s obvious that I’m not the only one feeling this way. Articles and tweets about the demise of Strikeforce have been respectful, but not overly-sentimental, and the comments sections of various liveblogs covering the event didn’t exactly blow up for the occasion. There were none of the regrets, what-nows and what-could-have-beens that usually come along with failed business ventures – just a few awkward goodbyes as Zuffa prepared to pull the plug on the machine that no longer served any purpose.

And honestly, why would anyone other than Strikeforce’s employees, fighters and Scott Coker feel any differently? The death of Strikeforce doesn’t mark the end of a promotion that has been pumping out relevant fights for the past two years. It isn’t the death of an alternative option for fighters not wanting to sign with Zuffa. It isn’t the even the end of free MMA on basic cable.

I guess it would be different if this card was stacked with the fighters who made Strikeforce Strikeforce, such as Cung Le, Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem, Ronda Rousey, Gilbert Melendez and Luke Rockhold, but they’ve either been assimilated into the UFC by now or they’ve pulled out of the event due to injury/apathy. Instead, this card served as one final night of squash fights – one of which actually ended differently than you may have expected.

Like a spirit guide leading us from one realm of existence to the next, Jim Genia will be sticking round-by-round results from the “Marquardt vs. Saffiedine” Showtime broadcast after the jump, beginning at 10 p.m. ET. Make your voices heard in the comments section, and please, let’s honor this moment.